WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The 2020 U.S. presidential election primary is to have one of the most important days of the process on Tuesday.
The so-called "Super Tuesday" will see 14 U.S. states across the nation, including populous California and Texas, as well as unincorporated territory American Samoa and Democrats living overseas, hold a primary or a caucus for voters to select their preferred presidential candidates this year.
Sitting President Donald Trump, who's facing no major challengers in the Republican Party, is expected to win easily the GOP primaries, consequently turning much media attention to Democratic battles, in which six Democrats are vying for the party's nomination to challenge the incumbent president.
After caucuses and primaries in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is currently leading with most pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), followed by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with the third most pledged delegates, announced Sunday night that he's ending his presidential campaign.
During Super Tuesday, 1,357 pledged delegates to the DNC or a third of the total will be up for grabs.
To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the national convention: 1,991 delegates.
In other words, the Super Tuesday primaries won't give a straight answer to whom the Democratic presidential nominee will be. However, it could offer indicators for how the rest of the primary could play out.
"They're the first multi-state contest and one of the single biggest delegate hauls of the entire nomination contest," Christopher Galdieri, associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua. "They're a good sign of which candidates can stay in a national campaign and which ones should probably wrap things up."
Pundits and observers will also be looking at a number of other things, including how Democratic voters will respond to a tussle between progressives and moderates and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's high-profile ballot debut.
After Super Tuesday, other U.S. states and territories will hold their primaries and caucuses to determine the remaining pledged delegates. The process will last until early June.
This year's DNC will be held on July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the party's nominee for the White House will be formally chosen.
If the convention is contested and goes to a second ballot or more, 771 automatic delegates, more commonly known as "super delegates," will be able to vote and a candidate must receive majority support from all delegates to become the nominee.
The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during the Aug. 24-27 national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3.
